In a column for the New York Times, Marcus Stern explains why oil trains keep blowing up across America. A 2014 investigation of the train explosions by Stern and Sebastian Jones for InsideClimate News, the Weather Channel, and the Investigative Fund was financed, in part, by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Park Foundation.

From Jeff Kelly Lowenstein for the Center for Public Integrity and Hoy Chicago, an investigation of nursing homes’ staffing levels. Lowenstein found that most nursing homes tell different stories to the public and to the government. They tell the public that staffing levels are higher than what they report on official documents filed with the federal government. Read more.

[Reporting sponsored by The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.]

From the San Francisco Public Press: a series on the difficulty fulfilling a 10-year-old promise of finding homes for the city’s neediest residents, and why the jail has become the city’s psychiatric institution of last resort.

[Reporting sponsored by The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.]

From Jason Berry, for GlobalPost, a story about the limits to Pope Francis’ power to make good on his pledge of “zero tolerance” towards clergy who abuse children. In a follow-up piece, Berry explores the issues surrounding demands for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

From Kiera Butler for Mother Jones, the story of high quality – but expensive – seeds planted in Africa by 4-H club members, funded by the USDA and corporate sponsor DuPont. Will African farmers get hooked on DuPont’s “Pioneer” seed? If so, who will pay? Read more.

From David J. Krajicek for The Crime Report, a groundbreaking investigation of the many thousands of wrongful convictions for crimes such as robbery – cases that have been overlooked because advocates focus on suspects who face the death penalty or life in prison. One woman spent seven years in prison for an Arizona bank robbery — until the real robber was found. “If it can happen to me,” Rachel Jernigan told Krajicek, “it can happen to anyone.” Click here for the main story, the history sidebar, and the local court sidebar.

From Ezra Fieser for 18 Degrees North: A report on suspects who are shot and killed by police in the Dominican Republic. Human rights researchers say 15 percent of all homicides there are committed by law enforcement officers.

From Adu Koranteng for New Crusading Guide Newspaper and Modern Ghana News: It’s banned, but practiced by fishermen in Ghana who are desperate to make a living. They kill fish with poisons such as DDT; the fish are later sold in markets. One local man told Koranteng: “We have seen them do it in the night but you cannot go close to them since some of them wield machetes… they will try to sink your canoe or kill you.” Read more.

[Reporting sponsored by The Green Park Foundation and The Reva and David Logan Foundation.]

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